Sox grind down Sabathia again

CC hit hard over six IP

Credit: AP

DOUR LOOK: CC Sabathia bites his lip as he heads to the dugout after surrendering a run to the Red Sox in the second inning yesterday.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

SURPRISE! Daniel Nava squares to hit a sacrifice bunt in the second inning. Nava’s bunt advanced Jonny Gomes to second and Mike Napoli to third. Napoli scored on a groundout by the subsequent batter, Will Middlebrooks.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

Mike Napoli, right, high fives Xander Bogaerts after scoring with two outs in the bottom of the second inning as the Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

Shane Victorino hits a single to left scoring David Ross, right, who is congratulated by David Ortiz as the Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

Jon Lester pitches in the top of the fifth inning as the Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

Daniel Nava sacrifice fly to center scores Mike Napoli (L) as Chris Stewart takes the throw from the outfild in bottom of the fifth inning as the Red Sox host the Yankees at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

Will Middlebrooks hugs Xander Bogaerts after Red Sox beat the Yankees, 5-1, at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

Credit: Faith Ninivaggi

The Red Sox celebrate after beating the Yankees, 5-1, at Fenway Park on September 14, 2013.

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The Red Sox have a system of grinding out long at-bats and giving opposing starters early exits.

New York Yankees starter CC Sabathia has first-hand experience with it, as that system has haunted him all season. Yesterday, the Red Sox did it again in a 5-1 win before a sellout crowd of 37,510 at Fenway Park.

In six innings, Sabathia let up five earned runs, allowed nine hits, walked four batters and threw 110 pitches. It served as a typical outing against the Sox for the ace, who owns a 7.22 ERA against the team this season.

And while Sabathia’s season ERA rose to 4.90 after yesterday’s game, his inability to master the Sox is nonetheless noteworthy.

“He’s a good pitcher, we’ve just been grinding (at-bats) away and been doing what we’ve been doing against everybody,” said first baseman Mike Napoli, who went 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. “We’re just trying to pass it on to the next guy and just battle against him. You know you’re going to get a good start against him. He always seems to go deep into games, no matter what’s going on and you’ve got to just keep grinding.”

That grinding style has become the organization’s trademark at the plate and an effective one at this point in the season, especially against mediocre pitching or at least, in this case, a very good pitcher having a mediocre season.

In Sabathia’s five starts against the Sox this season, he’s had just one quality start. In every other appearance, he’s thrown six innings or less and given up at least four earned runs, topping 100 pitches every time.

“I think that gets said a lot, but there’s a lot of truth in that,” Daniel Nava said of the team’s ability to force pitchers deep into counts. “We’re not trying to see a certain number of pitches. We’re just trying to get our pitch and sometimes our pitch just doesn’t come the first two so a lot of the guys in the lineup aren’t afraid to let the count get kind of deep. When you have a lot of guys doing that, that’s what the result is.”

Said Napoli: “We’ve got a lot of guys that get deep into counts and that’s the goal. When everyone’s working together to do that, it works. We’ve been doing it all year and we don’t plan on stopping.”

When it has come to Sabathia this year, it’s worked, and bodes well for the future, especially if the Red Sox face the Yankees in the postseason.

“Maybe it’s just one of them years,” Napoli said of Sabathia’s struggles. “But he still goes out there and grinds and gets deep into games. We just, we got to him.”